Ghana Education Service (GES) has declared that Parents Associations (PAs) are permitted to engage in fundraising activities to support the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy.
The GES guidelines specify that PAs can explore various fundraising methods for school development but are restricted from imposing fees on students or pupils.
The guidelines, recently released by the GES for the functioning of Parents Associations in Pre-tertiary schools, address concerns about certain Parent Teachers Associations (PTAs) hindering the government’s objective of achieving universal access to education, particularly at the SHS level. This challenge arose due to some PTAs imposing excessive levies, undermining the essence of the Free SHS policy.
In response, the GES suspended the imposition of levies across all schools and mandated the reorganization of Parent Teachers Associations (PTAs) into Parent Associations (PAs) to minimize the involvement of school management and staff.
According to the GES, PAs are allowed to undertake projects supporting the development of affiliated schools, but the management of the schools retains full authority over the handling of such projects without interference from PAs.
The GES also barred the PAs from imposing any fees on students or pupils. This, according to the service, is to ensure that no student or pupil is denied access to any school facilities or services because his or her parents failed to pay the PAs levy or fees.
It was also clarified that individual parents/guardians may voluntarily contribute to the school, and such donations should not grant any preference or privilege to a student regarding facility access or utilization.
The guidelines as provided by the GES can be found here.
